Mandelbrot Set

"All Our Actions Are Constantly Repeated" CD

Highpoint Lowlife

Genre: post-rock, instrumental rock

August 2007

UK's Mandelbrot Set bring me yet another dramatic post-rock/instrumental rock offering in the vein of Explosions in the Sky. These folks are less mathy and more on the emotional quiet/loud dynamics end of things than other bands of their ilk, with a political bent somewhat akin to Montreal stalwarts Godspeed! You Black Emperor. Indeed, much of their cover art and liner notes is dominated by a detailed chart of the world's oil consumption and production - though their reputability suffers a blow due to having spelt "barrels" as "barrells" repeatedly and prominently. The music is pretty standard fare as far as epic post-rock instrumentalism goes, with powerful arching guitar crescendos and building climaxes dominating the mix. I would have preferred this effort to have been a bit more melodic than it is, as with the glut of these types of bands lately it takes such accessible qualities to separate exceptional projects from the herd. Considering this, it is only the final track, "His Hands Were Too Small...", and its haunting melodica, that truly stand out on All Our Actions Are Constantly Repeated.

mp3 (from mandelbrotset.co.uk): and the rockets red glare/bombs bust in air

70%

Fun Fact: Mandelbrot sets are the mathematical coordinates responsible for those crazy visual patterns known as fractals. Example.

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 6 tracks, distributed by Post Everything, released 2006]